Life preserver

ABSTRACT

A life preserver which requires no straps or like fastening means and which has an inherent ability to clamp firmly around the upper torso, over the shoulders and under the arms without immobilizing the user who can still swim, and this life preserver incorporates reasonably resilient means to hold the head upright well above the water, the donning of the life preserver is accomplished by simply passing the arms through obvious armholes while permitting portions of the item to pass down over the head and this donning can be accomplished easily with the pre-filled or pre-inflated life preserver.

United States Patent Smith [54] LIFE PRESERVER [72] Inventor: Eric P. Smith, Coronado, Calif,

[73] Assignee: Emergency Systems International,

Santee, Calif.

[22] Filed: Feb. 8, 1971 [21] App1.No.: 113,264

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France ..9/340 [15] 3,681,799 [451 Aug. 8, 1972 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Sauberer Attorney-Knox & Knox [57] ABSTRACT A life preserver which requires no straps or like fastening means and which has an inherent ability to clamp firmly around the upper torso, over the shoulders and under the arms without immobilizing the user who can still swim, and this life preserver incorporates reasonably resilient means to hold the head upright well above the water, the donning of the life preserver is accomplished by simply passing the arms through obvious armholes while permitting portions of the item to pass down over the head and this donning can be accomplished easily with the pre-filled or pre-inflated life preserver.

3 Clains, 5 Drawing Figures P'ATE'NTEDms 8m: 368L799 sum 1 or 2 l2 Q INVENTOR. H93 ERIC E SMITH BY JCurx&1now

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Prior life preservers provide the necessary buoyancy usually by inflation of an air-tight, water impervious tubular structure, so this general approach to the problem is obviously not new. Other types, including configured pillow types, are popular especially where storage space is not at a premium. Many of 1 these prior items require fastening straps which can be confusing and difficult to manipulate quickly in an emergency. Certain inflatable life preservers cannot be donned if inflated before being at least partially donned and the difficulty of manipulating and fastening such life preservers is increased when a person isalready in the water. Some of the prior life preservers do not assure the elevation of the users face above the water when he is relaxed or incapacitated, nor do they reliably right a person froma face-down position. Finally, some of the prior life preservers interfere with easy breathing or cause neck injury, especially when not properly strapped on and when the wearerjumps feet first into the water.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The hereinclaimed life preserver overcomes the foregoing difficulties inasmuch as it provides a nearlyclosed C-shaped tubular body which may be conceived, in use, as a pair of opposed, curved wings ordinarily horizontally encircling the upper torso of the user just underneath the arms, these wings being continued and returned as upwardly arched portions extending forwardly and terminally connected to the bight or central part of the tubular body, the returned arched portions being inherently biased toward each other but sufficiently resilient to be separable to pass over the head of the user. The wings are constructed so as to be selfbiased toward each other at the rear, behind the shoulders of the wearer so that no straps or other fasteners are required. When storage space is not a problem the life preserver may employ a filling of plastic foam or the like but will usually be inflated orallyor from compressed gas cylinders in conventional manner, either as a single or multiple cell structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the deflated life preserver;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view as taken from the right hand side of FIG. 1

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3- 3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the inflatedlife preserver in use; and

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the life preserver In use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The life preserver, for purposes of description, may be considered as comprising a tubular body formed in the shape of a nearly closed C, the bight or central portion 12 of which may be consideredthe front, since and upwardly arched returnedportions 16 which terminate at 18 and connected as indicated at 20 to the central portion 12. The terminals 18 are also connected to each other as at 22 in FIGS. 1 and 3.

When the tubular body and said upwardly arched returned portions are properly filled or inflated, as described hereinafter, the wings 14 are inherently biased together atthe rear as at 24 and this is accomplished incidentally to the construction of the tubular sections from similarly shaped multi-layered sheets of material sealed asat 26 on the outer periphery and at 28 on the inner periphery. As originally fabricated, and as stored in uninflated condition, the returned portions 16 must overlap one or both of the wings 14yaswill be clearfromaninspection of FIG. 1. I

,Some latitude is possible in the choice of sheet material to be used but one preferred material is a laminated fabric having multiple layers of neoprene coated nylon. In this connection it may be important to note that the life preservermay be of single celled type ormaybe made dual celled by the addition of an inter mediate layer between what may be considered the upper layer-30 and lower layer 32.

A valved tube 34 is connected to the central portion 12 for oral inflation and conventional means such as the illustrated cylinders 36. of compressed gas are connected in the same area for alternative use. A hand pull cord 38 and alever 40 to actuate conventional cylinder-piercing means is provided, all as used in prior art devices. When, as mentioned above, dual cell construction is used, the inflation means must of course be duplicated. In this connection it is noted thatthe selfbiasing or strong tendency forthe parts 24 to come together is inherently built into the item andthisfeature is present even though plastic foam or an equivalent light weight materialis used in place of inflation by gas and of course the inflation means is deleted in that case. The simplified form is proposedfor use portions 16 to close together, the stated resiliency permitting these portions 16 to beseparated to admitthe head of the user, the closing bias thereafter tending to form a lateral head-erecting collar about the neck of the user.

It will also now be clearthat the item is reversible and although the operational steps are obvious, the life preserver is appropriately labeled as indicated at 42 to indicate proper disposition as at 44 to indicate the armholes defined between the wings l4 and upwardly arched returned portions 16. In use, a low center of buoyancy is provided with non-choking head support and the user is protected against oncoming waves or swells. It is not possible for the wearer to remain in a face-down position since the life preserver will right him even when he is relaxed or incapacitated. A great advantage is that a person wearing the life preserver can swim rather than merely dog paddle" as when 14 extend to the rear and are continued as forwardly wearing certain other types of life preservers. The item, once donned, will not come off inadvertently, either when inflated or uninflated, and even when the wearer jumps into the water from a reasonable height. The

item can be donned either before or after inflation, thus obviating one difficulty experienced during panic conditions. Finally, there are no straps or buckles and the item is donned very quickly and easily by simply placing the arms through the obvious and ample arm holes, which are also should-accepting openings followed or preceded by inflation using the oral tube 34 or pull cord 38.

Although the foregoing is adequate to show those skilled in the art how to make and use the invention, it is of interest to note that the avoidance of attaching straps and fasteners is made possible theoretically by the arrangement of the marginal sealing areas 26 and 28 in the general plane of the undistended or uninflated, generally flat form shown in FIG. 1, taken in conjunction with the returned portion feature and the fact that the entire tubular structure is of stout, relatively large in cross-sectional size-large enough and stout enough to prevent the returned portions 16 from by-passing or avoiding each other as they are simultaneously distended or inflated, in their attempt to straighten into alignment with their corresponding wing portions 14 in the general plane of the wing portions. The result is a substantially vertical juxtaposition of the returned portions 16 as indicated in FIGS. 4 and 5. It is also theoretically proposed that the sealed area 28, being substantially inextensible longitudinally as a plurality of layers of multilayered fabric, again in conjunction with other forces including the pre-curved form of the wing portions and the efi'ect of the two layer (30 and 32 of FIG. 3) construction and sealed area 26, is determinant of the distended form with its bias toward closure of the rear portions, as at 24 in FIG. 5, behind the shoulders of the wearer.

It is not mandatory that the front ends of the returned portions 16 be connected to the C-shaped body or to each other if the tubular structure is made of sufficiently firm, strong material and many variations in form, all within the ambit of the appended claims are possible but the illustrated form has been produced and proven satisfactory.

I claim:

1. A life preserver, comprising:

a generally C-shaped tubular body of flexible material and having similar oppositely curved wing portions each terminating in returned over-theshoulder portions extending to the central part of the C-shaped body, whereby shoulder-accepting openings are defined between said wing portions and returned portions, said returned portions being also similarly oppositely curved and on the same side of said body so that when distended said wing portions are inherently biased toward each other to fit behind the shoulders of the wearer, and said return portions are inherently biased toward each other to contact the sides of the neck of the user yet manually separable to accept the head of a user during the donning of the life preserver.

2. A life preserver according to claim 1 wherein said returned portions are terminally secured to said central part and when distended are substantially normal to the general plane of said body.

3. A life preserver according to claim 1 wherein said C-shaped portions constructed of similar layers of sheet tartar :n trt gaszrtrsrsea esi gti tray so that when the life preserver is distended said wing portions are inherently biased so as to close around the upper torso of a user, thus obviating the necessity for fastening means. 

1. A life preserver, comprising: a generally C-shaped tubular body of flexible material and having similar oppositely curved wing portions each terminating in returned over-the-shoulder portions extending to the central part of the C-shaped body, whereby shoulder-accepting openings are defined between said wing portions and returned portions, said returned portions being also similarly oppositely curved and on the same side of said body so that when distended said wing portions are inherently biased toward each other to fit behind the shoulders of the wearer, and said return portions are inherently biased toward each other to contact the sides of the neck of the user yet manually separable to accept the head of a user during the donning of the life preserver.
 2. A life preserver according to claim 1 wherein said returned portions are terminally secured to said central part and when distended are substantially normal to the general plane of said body.
 3. A life preserver according to claim 1 wherein said C-shaped portions constructed of similar layers of sheet material with marginal sealing areas substantially inextensible and in the general plane of said C-shaped body so that when the life preserver is distended said wing portions are inherently biased so as to close around the upper torso of a user, thus obviating the necessity for fastening means. 